Silvio Berlusconi's trial on charges of paying for sex with an underage girl and abusing his office to cover it up has resumed after a two-month break.

Defence lawyers argued that the Prime Minister thought the Moroccan teenager known as Ruby the Heart Stealer was the niece of the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak when he tried to get her out of trouble last May, and therefore was acting within his official duties.

Mr Berlusconi did not attend the trial, which comes a day after the defeat of his mayoral candidates in Milan and Naples.